The Blog

The House of Sweet Magic

These handcrafted animations, unflinching documentaries, heartfelt narratives, and fiercely original music videos–all created by youth media-makers–are suffused with the same DIY spirit present in the work of Helen Hill, a noted experimental animator and champion of independent cinema. Hill, a Columbia native, made her first-ever animated short, The House of Sweet Magic, in the fifth grade. The love of movie magic that began in Hill’s childhood inspired this block, which features the work of filmmakers age 3 through 18.